We recently expanded the number of states where we collect sales tax, which will impact many of our wholesale customers. Since this is the first time we’ve collected sales tax outside the state of Florida, we want to give some insight into this change and how we can still support resellers and other tax-exempt organizations.
How the Law Changed
In the past, we only collected sales tax on orders delivered in our home state of Florida. Until a few years ago, businesses generally didn’t collect sales tax for a state unless they had physical locations or employees there.
However, that changed with the Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, allowing states to set their own requirements for remote sellers. Every state has different rules, but the bottom line is that we now collect sales tax in these 23 states:
| Alabama | Maryland | Tennessee |
| Florida | Michigan | Texas |
| Georgia | Missouri | Utah |
| Illinois | New Jersey | Virginia |
| Indiana | North Carolina | Washington |
| Kansas | Ohio | West Virginia |
| Kentucky | Pennsylvania | Wisconsin |
| Louisiana | South Carolina |
This list will likely expand over time.
Additionally, several states collect excise taxes on fireworks sales, and we are implementing that as required. This ensures that we are fully compliant with local laws and the initiatives funded by those taxes, which often focus on safety programs. Excise tax is now included in our tax calculation for these 2 states:
| Georgia | West Virginia |
What to Do if You’re Exempt
If you are buying fireworks for resale, or if you are purchasing for an organization that is exempt from sales tax in your state, contact us and submit a copy of the paperwork. We’ll add this information to your account so you can continue to place orders tax free, the way God and the Founders intended (but the rest of you shouldn’t go chucking fireworks into the harbor in protest*).
You can submit this information prior to placing your order or place your order with a note in the instructions that you are exempt, then follow up with the documentation as soon as you can. We can then remove the tax from the order before finalizing it.
How We’re Saving You Money
On a loosely related topic, did you know we lowered prices this year, and that we’re adding bonus savings to 20 items during this year’s Early Ship Sale? If not, you should read up about those changes, which are much more exciting than taxes and should more than offset the tax impact on your order total.
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team with any questions and we’ll be more than happy to help.
*This is a joke about taxation broadly, not a commentary about sales taxes specifically, so please don’t send us notes about state versus federal taxing authority or The Tea Act of 1773. 🙂
Updated January 2024
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